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The art of civil discourse means no soapboxes here!

Ever sit on a couch in someone’s living room, trying to make conversation? Or listen to someone get on a soapbox and dominate the conversation by expressing their opinion with such fervor that no one else dares speak, let alone contradict?

When we have authentic, respectful conversations we strengthen our relationships and advance our understanding of the challenges, opportunities and solutions before us.

Living Room Conversations begin with two people of differing perspectives. Each person invites two more friends for a total of six participants. The idea is to assemble a group of people with diverse outlooks to have a rich, meaningful conversation. The LRC approach lets you have a conversation that actually gets somewhere. Need help finding diversity? Fill out our match-up form here!

You need not study up on all of the supporting evidence surrounding your topic because Living Room Conversations are not debates. Rather, they are conversations intended to enhance understanding. You and your friends may change your minds on a topic, or you might not. Either way, these conversations will allow you to better understand the topic you chose.

Living Room Conversations can transform distrust and discord into understanding — paving the way for collaborative solutions. When we have authentic, respectful conversations we strengthen our relationships and advance our understanding of the challenges, opportunities and solutions before us.

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Living Room Conversations is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 as a result of a transpartisan partnership focused on revitalizing civil discourse through conversation. Living Room Conversations offers an open-source format to facilitate structured conversations among people of differing views and backgrounds. Through these conversations we hope to increase understanding of various issues, build relationships, and pave the way for collaborative and inclusive problem-solving.